An increase in ankle flexibility can help to avoid injury

Wina Sturgeon reports on flexibility and ankle exercises (thanks to Kathy Casey for referring this article).

Training Techniques: Creating Sports Specificity in Your Strength and Conditioning Workouts

N. Travis Triplett, PhD, CSCS,*D discusses the research behind creating sports specificity in the weight room:

This specificity concept is supported by the physiological changes that are known to occur in the body with various types of resistance training, both normal and explosive. By definition, resistance training includes performing various weight training exercises for a specified number of repetitions (depending on the main desired outcome) generally for multiple sets, with a defined rest period between those sets (again depending on the main desired outcome). Possible desired outcomes include muscular endurance, muscle hypertrophy (size increases), strength, and power, and the emphasis would vary based on the demands of the sport and the time of year in terms of training and competition.

View full article via NSCA website here.

Conceptual model of periodization

As presented at the PSA conference:

Adapted from: Bompa, Haff. Periodization: Theory and Methodology of Training, 5th Edition

Opinion: Acupuncture for Figure Skaters - An Untapped Resource

by Alys Guttenplan

Growing up as a skater, I watched the famed “Battle of Brians” and the “Carmens,” glued to the 1988 Winter Olympics. Though I’m not a morning person, getting up early to go to the rink never bothered me. In fact, I looked forward to it. One afternoon, in the spring of 1995, as I drove home from practicing my senior free and senior moves, I was in a car accident. From that point on, my back began to bother me. I was diagnosed with a condition called spondylolisthesis, at the L5-S1 vertebrae of my spine. This condition causes the forward slippage of vertebrae. Many people with this condition become athletes such as figure skaters or gymnasts, as they are hyper mobile. Unfortunately, the hyper mobility causes a lack of spinal stability which over time can cause pain.